I smell - help!

[WAMS]

I have always been fairly sweaty, never found an antiperspirant that actually kept me dry, even those scary twice a week ones. I now have a new job that is really full on...and its not just being wet that's an issue, but I smell - stress sweat I think, and it's gross. I have to wear a uniform and I am ruining the t shirts - the sweat doesn't wash out well enough and after a number of wears they are just rank. I use a 40 degree wash since its a coloured t shirt, is that not hot enough, what more could I be doing??

I use perspirex, it's about £9 from boots and can be quite sore when you start using but you put it on over night. I never wore anything but black for years but will now wear anything and feel confident. I have to reapply now about once a month, more regularly when I started using it but it works really well. Good luck!

Few options I guess...

• Change of diet could improve the smell? Fresh fruit and veg and plenty of water can help dilute the smell once the sweat is dry.
• if it’s profuse sweating then could always get both in your armpits, relaxes the glands that produce the sweat. ( my dad had this done and he said it stung a bit but life’s a lot better now )
• hotter wash, like a 60 to really remove the sweat from the fabric, the colour shouldn’t fade too quickly tbh most tops are made of polyester or cotton which holds colour well as opposed to jeans and stuff.
• always have emergency deodorant and perfume to hand at work

I can’t think of anything else to help. Hopefully things get better OP. I can understand why it’s getting you down. Good luck :)

• Botox

Washing with traditional hard soap rather than shower gel can really help. Use a biological laundry liquid. You could soak clothes in a suitable disinfectant before washing them.

When you shower , use soap, not shower gel (apparently shower gel leaves something on your skin that prevents deodorant working as well as it should )

I’ve recently converted thanks to MN!!

I now shower at night, with pears soap, roll on deodorant (it’s in a green bottle but can’t think of the name!! Sorry!!)

In the morning I have to muck out my horse before work, and I don’t sweat anymore doing whereas before I used to stink

I’m on my phone, so can’t post a link to the original thread otherwise I would, interesting reading!

Trust off amazon is fab, use it on my teens pits. A t8ny amount and it blocks the smell for a week, through baths showers etc, still wear anti p with it.

Have you tried Mitchum?

I use Mitchum - it’s really good.

I’m a fellow smelly sweater too! I use Perspirex a couple of times a week but I used to need it most days but then I took the plunge and had Botox injected. It’s life changing. I don’t worry now that I stink.
I do occasionally get a bit whiffy if I haven’t used Persiprex for a while but nowhere near how it was before.

Wash with soap not shower gel and soak your tshirts in white vinegar before washing.

Following the soap thread on here we have all converted to soap and the difference it has made is unbelievable.

I’m the same!

The best thing I have found for shirts is spray them under the arms with Tesco’s oxispray before they get washed. It totally gets rid of any smell and I do it on coats too.

I agree Mitchum works but worry it is quite severe. Rubbing a bit of bicarbonate of soda on armpits just after washing naturally eliminates any smell at all for me but is a bit annoying to do- and also doesn’t stop sweating.

I read somewhere we all have different bacteria under our arms which has a huge effect- so maybe someone will invent a probiotic for underarms! DH never ever has a bad smell under his arms and so lucky!

Def soap not shower gel.

Squirt of white vinegar on the armpits of tops before washing.

I use Mitchum as well. Awesome stuff.

I also use detol laundry stuff and despite the naysayers it really does get the smell out of pits in clothes.

You can buy Anhydrol Forte, or Driclor at the chemist. It stops you sweating all together and is a roll on. Put it on at night and wash off in the morning. It generally lasts about 2 weeks before you need to reapply.

I've used it for years. On my feet as well otherwise I can't wear flats or sandals

You need to wash at 60 to kill the sweat bacteria if you are very sweaty.

Also what material is it? Things like viscose stink. Cotton much better.

Can you take some wet wipes for a quick freshen up and change into a fresh uniform half way through the day?

Wear a cheap tshirt under your work shirt so at least you can wash them on a high temp or bin them.
Dryclor solution really works as a tough deodorant. Use it overnight.
Defo use soap and wash twice.
I use sanex 48 hr during the day (blue one) and it's the only routine that's worked for me.
Good luck.

Another recommendation for driclor

I used to sweat profusely on my teenage years. If change school shirts at lunch time and they would have big wet patches under the arms sometimes right down to my waste. I was prescribed driclor and it truly was life changing. I ended up using it about once a week in the end. I think you can buy it now off the shelf though.
I grew out of the sweating in my 20s. And I now use just normal deodorant.

I have had this, but it comes and goes, I have hardly had to use anything for the last couple of years, now the wet and smell is back and the only thing that stops it for me is Perspi-Guard.

I found it by chance in an old fashioned chemist shop in Bath, tried it, expecting to be disappointed as nothing else had ever made any difference, and I had tried them all. Could hardly believe it when it worked! It is on Amazon now, so no excuse to go to visit Bath again.
You apply at night, to clean, totally dry skin, once the sweat/smell is under control you can go a week or 10 days not needing to use any antiperspirant at all, it is like a miracle!

You can buy sports wash for sweaty sports kit, it's good at getting the sweaty smell out of clothes at a low temperature.

For yourself, like other posters I'd recommend soap over shower gel.

I think it's also worth remembering that if you are washing well every day and washing your top after each wear, you probably don't actually smell bad to other people. You're self conscious of it, so it's making you worry, and when you take your clothes off after work you can smell the sweat from the fabric, but unless other people are right under your arms having a
sniff, it's probably not noticeable. I think people who are noticeably smelly are very unlikely to be people who are actually washing daily, wearing deodorant and wearing clean clothes.

Put some of the Dettol anti bacterial liquid in the washing machine when you wash as it kills the bacteria that leaves clothes smelly. I have to add this when washing my husbands cycling clothes or they still smell bad! With that added 40 degrees should be fine.

Halo Sports wash is excellent at low temperatures.

I have found that stoping shaving my armpits and using a spray deodorant has sorted this for me.

Thanks everyone, some great ideas to try. Off to buy some proper soap for one thing!